Far-right party wins urban mayorship for the first time in Germany

In Germany, the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has recently elected its first mayor in a medium-sized city. An incumbent pro-Russian right-wing party emerged victorious in Serbia's general election. Far-right fervor is rising in Europe, fueled by ongoing refugee flows and persistent economic challenges caused by high prices.

On Sunday, the AfD won its first mayoral election in an urban area since its founding in 2013, according to Deutsche Welle (DW) and other sources. Preliminary results of the mayoral runoff in Pirna, a city of 40,000 people in eastern Germany known as the 'Switzerland of Saxony,' showed Tim Lochner winning 38.5 percent of the vote, defeating two other candidates.

Mr. Lochner, an independent, ran as an AfD candidate, competing against candidates from Germany's largest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), affiliated with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the Free Voters' Union (FW).

This marks the first time an AfD candidate has been elected mayor of a city with a population of 40,000, as DW and other local media reported. While an AfD candidate won the mayoral election in Raguhn-Jeßnitz, Saxony-Anhalt, in July, it's noteworthy that the city has only a population of around 9,000. Saxony's intelligence agency recently labeled the AfD a right-wing extremist movement, adding significance to the party's mayoral victory. The AfD's political ascent in Germany persists, with one survey indicating that one in five voters would choose the AfD, making it the second most popular party after the CDU, as reported by DW.


Eun-A Cho achim@donga.com